Conference USA Preview: Rice University Owls

Rice University Owls

Last Year: 5-7 (3-5)/ 5th West

The one thing that is undeniable about the Owls is that they love having one of the toughest non-conference schedules in all of college football. With games against Texas and Baylor on the schedule, wins were hard to come by in 2015. The frustrating point of the season are the losses to UTEP and UTSA. Rice were 4-4 going into the UTEP game, which they lost on a 7:25 drive ending with a FG kicked with :48 seconds remaining, and ended up losing to Southern Miss and UTSA.

Players to Watch

QB Tyler Stehling

RB Darik Dillard

LB Alex Lyons

• 2015 All-Conference USA Honorable Mention

The bright spot for the Owls last year was their offense led by Driphus Jackson. Jackson is now gone, and Tyler Stehling steps in to improve this passing game that averaged 224.2 ypg. Turnovers were a problem for both the offense and defense. Out of 128 teams, the Owls were 119th in Turnover margin at -12 and 22 turnovers lost. RB Darik Dillard leads the 3-man rushing attack. Dillard was the conference’s 10th leading rusher with 698 yards and 5 TD

The defense was the pain of this team in 2015. To their credit, having Baylor, Texas, and Western Kentucky would make any team have poor defensive stats, but when you forced 10 turnovers all season, you’re going to have a bad time. Defensive pressure helps create those turnovers, and with 16 sacks on the season, the Owls did themselves no favors. Those numbers are pretty low even if most of their games are against up-tempo spread offenses. LB Alex Lyons was the team’s leading tackler, and expect him to lead the team again this year.

Total Offense	62nd/5th (402.3)	Total Defense	102nd/12th (447.4)
Passing Offense	65th/7th (224.2)	Passing Defense	101st/10th (257.2)
Rushing Offense	58th/2nd (177.6)	Rushing Defense	88th/10th (190.3)
Scoring Offense	87th/6th (26.1)	Scoring Defense	108th/11th (35.8)

Big Games of 2016

Sep. 01    at WKU

Sep. 16    Baylor

Nov. 19     UTEP

Prediction

4-8 (2-6)/5th West

The Owls take a step back this year mostly because of their out-of conference scheduling. The addition of Prairie View A&M should be a win, but finishing the year with Stanford is a tough way to go. The loss of Driphus Jackson will be big for this team and the offense may need a year to retool for the future, and with a defense as bad as it is, I don’t see Rice improving from last year.

Conference USA Preview: Florida Atlantic University Owls

Florida Atlantic University Owls

Last Year: 3-9 (3-5)/ 6th in East

The Owls had a rough 2015. Three, 3 game losing streaks led to the 9 losses, but one of those wins were against rival Florida International. The other two wins came from Charlotte and Old Dominion, which are the bottom-feeder teams. FAU almost pulled out the upset in the swamp against the #8 Florida Gators, but fell short 14-20.

Players to Watch

DE Trey Hendrickson

• 2015 1st Team All-Conference USA
• 2015 2nd in Nation in sacks (13.0 sacks)

P Dalton Shomp

• 2015 1st Team All-Conference USA
• 2015 National leader (48.0 YPP)

LB Azeez Al-Shaair

• Conference USA All-Freshman
• USA Today Freshman All-American

The Owls have 14 starters returning, and 8 of those on the offensive side. R-SO Jason Driskel (Yes, he’s Jeff’s younger brother) is expected to be the start on this up-tempo offense. Driskel played in 10 games, but was mostly used in set packages. In his two starts against Miami and Buffalo, Driskel went a combined 40-86 for 588 yards, 2 TD and 2 INTs. Both were losses, but he was playing as a R-FR. JR Greg “Buddy” Howell, JR led the team in rushing with 598 yards and 3 TD.

SR DE Trey Hendrickson leads the Owls on defense. Hendrickson racked up 13.5 sacks making him the program’s all-time sack leader and 1st team All C-USA. Staying in the front 7, Azeez Al-Shaair led the team with 94 tackles and added 7 tackles for loss. Players lost to graduation will hurt this defense. Of the 14 interception, only 6 return. Look for Ocie Rose and Jalen Young to step up and try to cover the loss of Crevon LeBlanc.

Total Offense	86th/7th (377.8)	Total Defense	70th/4th (405.1)
Passing Yards	75th/9th (213.1)	Passing Defense	80th/6th (236.7)
Rushing Yards	72nd/5th (164.8)	Rushing Defense	66th/7th (168.4)
Scoring Offense	105th/10th (22.4)	Scoring Defense	83rd/6th (28.8)

Big Games of 2016

Sep. 10     @ Miami

Oct. 1        @FIU

Oct. 29         WKU

Prediction

5-7 (4-4)/5th East

The growth of this team will rest on Driskel’s shoulders. If his play can improve the Owl’s offense by 30 ypg, this team wins 5 games, if not, a bowl game. I do think Driskel improves. I see 5 wins. The FIU and Rice games could swing this team’s season.